


get over here and play a video game

by TheFledglingDM



Category: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016), Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: (he's working on it), Alternate Universe - Games and Gaming, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Tabletop Gaming, Ben is Awkward but not a Rage Monster bc I've 0 patience for that, Galaxy Gaming is basically Star Wars meets Buzzfeed/IGN/Polygon/Game Grumps, Games/Gaming, Multi, Redeemed Ben Solo, Redeeming Ben Solo, hi i love board games and viddy games and you're all going to deal with it, lots of other SW cameos, some mentions of less fun/savory aspects of gaming culture
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-11
Updated: 2020-01-12
Packaged: 2021-02-25 08:55:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,558
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22213399
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheFledglingDM/pseuds/TheFledglingDM
Summary: Rey gets drunk and applies to her dream job (well, internship). Lo and behold, she actually gets it. Now she has twelve weeks to convince Galaxy Gaming Studios that they should keep her.
Relationships: Poe Dameron/Finn, Rey/Ben Solo, Zorii Bliss/Jannah
Comments: 3
Kudos: 11





	get over here and play a video game

**Author's Note:**

> welcome to this purely self-indulgent palette cleanser following the fandom drama and my own emotionally intense works. 
> 
> title is taken from lana del ray's "video games."
> 
> (the chapter count will definitely change, but that's what my initial guesstimate is)

The computer screen swam in and out of focus in Rey’s vision. She blinked, confused, but the problem didn’t rectify itself. She shrugged and took another sip of her coke and whiskey.

Finn showed Poe some meme on his phone that was making him laugh so hard he was barely making sound anymore, as he had been for the last half hour or so when his third whiskey _really_ hit him. But at least he was quiet enough so that Rey could hear whatever they were talking about in the episode of _Frame By Frame_ on the TV.

Rey turned her attention back to the screen - the channel was one of many hosted by their parent company, Galaxy Gaming. The Tico sisters were laughing hysterically at a glitch in a _Sonic_ game that had come out at least ten years ago now. Reflexively, Rey smiled at their antics. What she wouldn’t have given for a sister like that, growing up.

_Nope, not getting all miserable,_ Rey told herself. The video ended and YouTube automatically queued up another episode from Galaxy Gaming, this one called _On Top of the Table._

“Oh, oh, oh, Ben Watch!” Poe cried, pointing at the screen like they weren’t all looking. “Ben Watch” was one of Poe’s favorite games when they watched this channel because apparently, as Poe liked to remind all of them whenever they watched this, he went to high school with one of the guys who worked for the channel. It was especially funny when Poe glanced at Rey and smirked, as if Rey would miss that, because everyone who had ever heard Rey watch this show (which was, admittedly, only Finn and Poe) knew that Rey always knew when Ben Solo was on screen.

Rey glanced up at the TV. It was an episode she had already seen. Seven people were gathered together to play a few rounds of a game called _Deception: Murder in Hong Kong_ , and third from the left was Ben Solo. In all of his tall, broad, awkward, razor-sharp dry witted glory.

“I went to high school with him,” Poe said.

“ _We know_ ,” Rey and Finn irritably said in unison.

Poe frowned like this was somehow anything other than their usual conversation. “We were really good friends.”

“Sure, babe,” Finn said, laying his head on Poe’s shoulder.

Rey shook her head and went back to her computer. She still felt weird, like she was forgetting to do some homework or reading even though she had graduated NYU a week ago. Fortunately, she still had her job as a bartender in a little hole-in-the-wall joint around the corner, but already she was bored and chafing against her lack of job or work.

Poe had told her and Finn to relax, not seeming to remember the constant stress of looking for a job or trying to make ends meet with little income coming in. He hadn’t graduated _that_ long ago, only three years. At least Finn had a few interviews coming up, his computer engineering degree opening up doors all across the country. English-major Rey had…nothing.

But that was another depressing thought Rey didn’t want to delve into, so she took another sip of her drink and scrolled through Tumblr and Twitter and watched _On Top of the Table._ Paige Tico said something ridiculous about her theory of a murder victim being killed on a boat with a turkey baster, and Rey went back to her computer.

Her feed was a mix of online personalities, game creators, writers, authors, politics, game reviews and journalists. The most personal thing she saw were some bumped photos of recently-liked photos of Poe and Finn at graduation last week.

She scrolled, and a new post came up on her feed, and Rey almost choked on her drink.

It seemed like the Galaxy Gaming personalities she followed had all posted more or less the same thing at the same time:

_An awesome twelve-week internship program!_ Rose Tico had posted above a link. _Get involved in our review & storyboarding process - you may even get to be in a video!_

_Full-time internship!_ Jessika Pava wrote.

_It’s paid_ , Ben Solo had posted.

Rey blinked. “Holy shit.”

Poe and Finn’s heads swiveled her way as one. They asked, “What?”

Rey turned her well-loved laptop towards them. “Galaxy Gaming has a summer internship opportunity available. It’s twelve weeks, full-time, and paid!”

Finn’s mouth fell open. “That’s _awesome_ , Peanut! Are you going to apply?”

“I,” Rey started before stopping short. She wanted to. She _really_ wanted to.

“Of course you are,” Finn said. “You’ve got to do it tonight! Do it before they’re completely packed.”

“Tonight?” Rey repeated dumbly. She looked at her nearly empty glass. How many had she had? Three? Four? Rey wasn’t normally much of a drinker, but she had nothing to do and she was still in party mode from last week.

“Yes!” Poe said. He pointed at the screen. “You’d be amazing, Rey. I’ve never met someone who can write and speak like you.”

“It’s the accent,” Rey said.

Poe laughed like she’d said something funny. “That doesn’t hurt! And you love games. It can’t hurt, yeah? You already have a resume and a million cover letter drafts ready to go. Five minutes and it’ll be in.”

It wasn’t a great argument, Rey knew. But she’d had somewhere between three and five whiskey cokes, and it was late, and it was only an application and only twelve weeks in any case. Worst-case scenario, she had a funny story of the time she got drunk and applied to her dream job. Best case…

Rey clicked on the link and started to fill out her information.

~

Ben reached under his glasses to scrub at his eyes. He’d been in this conference room for five hours now, hunched over the table with Jyn, Cassian, and the Tico sisters. At the head of the table sat Luke, who was pouring over the intern applications that had passed the muster of at least three of the five reviewers.

It was still weird, being around Luke. For all that their relationship had been rocky when he was in his teens, to have him now as his boss, to _not_ yell at him every time they met -

Life had a way of kicking you in the ass, Ben had learned.

But that didn’t matter. He returned his attention to the papers in front of him - a stack of papers that was rapidly growing larger as Rose and Paige blazed through the applications. They were much more keen on stamping their approval on every person who liked video games - which was _everyone_ , as they were a _gaming journalism company_ \- but Ben’s standards were much higher.

He vetoed an application but passed it on to Jyn on his other side. Then he turned his attention to the next application, submitted less than half an hour after it went live. He expected it to be another salivating mouth-breather talking about how hot the applicant found Rose or Paige or Jessika, but the glowing stamps of approval that those three had already given hinted that that was unlikely.

The resume Rey Plutt had sent in was simple - Times New Roman, twelve-point font. There was something familiar about the address, but he wrote it off after another few moments. He had spent his share of time at bars and areas around Columbia University. They had both Creative Writing and English Literature degrees from NYU. Their previous jobs section had a list that covered everything from mechanics to retail to barista-ing to bartending. But it was the cover letter that gave him pause:

_I love stories,_ Rey Plutt had written to start. _A sentence that feels like an understatement, but there it is. I love everything from fantasy to thriller to sci-fi to realistic fiction to horror to mystery; the characterization, the worldbuilding, the storylines, the way the author is always a step ahead of the reader, taking them by the hand and leading them on a journey into the unknown. I love that there are approximately two hundred thousand words in the English language, and writers are forever blending them in new and exciting ways._

_I would say my love of stories and writing began as a child growing up in London, bouncing between foster homes with little constancy…_

Ben hovered over the letter, letting its author take him on a journey all its own. Rey had grown up in the English foster system, bouncing around before finally landing in the home of one Unkar Plutt. It hadn’t been a happy life - Unkar Plutt’s parenting attitude could be described as _negligent at best, but careless at worst, and in a world of so many other unknowns it seemed like the best option to a thirteen-year-old who only wanted a roof and stability_ \- but with the school library and the watchful eye of one Maz Kanata, Rey had plowed through as many books as they could get their hands on. Which turned to journaling, writing online, submitting to writing competitions - a natural progression. Rey hadn’t been so fortunate as to grow up on and around video games, but they knew their tropes and their plots and -

And Rey Plutt received their third and final required stamp of approval, and Ben slid the folder over to Luke.

**Author's Note:**

> thank you so much for reading! please comment/kudo if you like!


End file.
